The journeys of Rufus Shinra
by ShadowAssasin01
Summary: This is a FF VII fic based around Rufus being a spoiled prince who after having a dream sets out on an adventure. plz R&R.
1. Chapter 1: It all began with a Dream

This is an FFVII fanfic that I decided to write based off of an essay I had to write in English on how money can't buy happiness. So I wrote it on a rich spoiled prince. Then a thought hit me to make the prince Rufus Shinra and turn it into a FF fanfic. This first chapter is basically the beginning of the story introducing y he began his journey

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There was once a prince, not just any prince, but a rich and spoiled one. All he cared about was himself and his money. He had what seemed to be a never ending pot of gold. He thought of himself as the happiest man on Earth just because of his wealth. That was until his kingdom was visited upon by an Old Wiseman, who imparted some of his wisdom with the foolish young prince. "If you think just because you are rich then you are happy, then you are gravely mistaken, for no amount of money can buy happiness."

When the prince heard that he basically laughed the man to scorn. He couldn't possibly believe what this man was telling him. After all, why would the prince believe him? He thought that he was "happy" and content with his wealth. So he just simply dismissed what the Wiseman said and continued living his selfish lifestyle, until one day an event occurred that would change his views of life forever.

The prince gets up blissfully and looks around the room. His jovial spirit however did not last very long; for as he looked around the room he noticed that his luxurious room had been turned into, well your average room. In fact his entire house had been virtually metamorphasised into a "shack" compared to the luxurious palace he was used to living in. He looked around the room frantically searching for any possible clue as to why he was living in such deplorable conditions. He calls out to his servants, with no response, he calls out again, and the only response he gets is the wind blowing gently through an opened window. He reluctantly gets out of his bed and starts walking towards the door, when he spies a mirror hanging on a wall in his peripheral vision. Turning to face the mirror he is floored by the appalling image he sees. He doesn't see himself wearing his usual princely attire, in matter of fact the outfit wasn't even worthy of any noble position. Instead he was wearing clothing that was suited for the lowest of peasants. He just stood there, looking at how pathetic he looked in those rag-tagged pieces of clothing that should only be considered cheap fabric. As he stared at the mirror a thought crossed his mind. 'This can't be real, maybe it is just a cruel prank them nobles are playing on me and when I step outside I will just see all off them laughing at such a funny joke.' He got so caught up in thinking this way that he started a little laughing of his own just thinking of it. He slowly walks down the creaky old steps and swings the door open.

But what he sees is not what he expected. He did not see a group of nobles standing outside greeting him with good natured humored laughs. Instead he saw a neighborhood that was totally wrecked. The houses looked as if they hadn't been renovated since the day they were built. There was dirty water seeping through the ground from the sewage gutters. There were flies everywhere as if this was some flies nest. But in this nasty, forsaken piece of land he saw something that absolutely amazed him. He saw little children running around in this wasteland with nothing but joy in their eyes. The prince wondered, 'What are they so happy about? They don't have no reason to be happy about, but living in such a poor state and probably hardly a dime to their name.' Are they disillusioned into thinking this is what happiness is? Do they believe that this pathetic existence is true happiness? Or is it I who was disillusioned into thinking that because I had all the money in the world that I had simply bought my happiness? Because here is a group of people who are possibly the lowest life forms that have absolutely nothing, but the clothes on their back and yet they are still as elated as a flock of Larks, just chirping away their gay melody. In this state of joy, he too can just feel himself being filled with energy and bliss. Right as he reached his climax he is plunged into darkness once more.

This time when his world is lit up, he sees his usual luxurious room, filled with all the precious gems that many people only dream of seeing let alone owning. But this time as he woke up, he did not fell happy. Instead, he felt a deep emptiness, as if something had miraculous had been realized. He then realized what he was missing, and that was joy. No matter how rich he was, he could not simply buy happiness. He could not go up to a shopkeeper and tell him, "I would like to buy my happiness." He had to experience it, feel it and enjoy it. It was then that this prince decided to set out on a journey…a journey to find real happiness

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Plz R&R and tell me what I need to change or any ideas for future chapters


	2. Chapter 2: In Training

The sun glistens brightly off of the golden hair of the prince causing his head to shine brightly like the star that he thinks he is. He has just set out on his journey and successfully snuck out of his castle undetected…somehow. But now he has come up against another obstacle.

As he lies on the ground of the slums, with all his energy drained he thinks, 'Why did I decide to go on this adventure and especially without any servants. How am I going to be able to make out adventuring if I can't even get out of the town without becoming tired? It's going to take a miracle.' Right then a Flower Girl dressed in a Pink Dress walks by and notices him. She asks him, "Umm, are you ok?"

The prince replies, "Does it look like it? OF COURSE I'M NOT!

Flower Girl: Ok, but you don't have to yell.

The Flower Girl starts giving him restoratives.

Prince: Thank you…umm what is your name?

Flower Girl: Aeris, and yours?

Prince: My name is Rufus. thinks maybe I should leave out the part of me being the prince of this rotten place end of thoughts

Aeris gasps in shock, "U MEAN AS IN THE PRINCE?"

Rufus: ummm no, different person.

Aeris: o, because I heard that the prince was a stuck up, no good, self centered, money hungry idiot, but u seem like a good person.

Rufus thinks, '…Is that what they think of me? I'm not really that bad. So, I might've been a little self centered and maybe did care about my money a bit more than the people, but I'm not a no good, stuck up idiot.'

Aeris: Anyways, why were u collapsed in the middle of the street?

Rufus: o, I had just started my grand adventure.

Aeris: Just started…and you had already collapsed? I think u need to get into some better physical condition.

Rufus: …Do you know anywhere I can get this Physical Training you speak of?

Aeris responds happily, "HAI! My mom can give you the necessary training."

Rufus: Your mom? thoughts 'A woman? This isn't gonna be too hard end thoughts

Aeris: Hai, my mom used to be a great adventurer. So let's go.

Rufus follows the Aeris as she cheerfully walks through the Sector 7 Slums (or whatever Sector Aeris's house was in). As Rufus follows he starts to wonder, 'Someone else who appears to be happy without money. I will never understand it…but then again, I guess that's why I am going on this adventure. I might just be able to get used to adventuring if it is with someone as cute as her… His trend of thought was disturbed by Aeris cheerfully announcing, "We're here!"

Rufus stood in front of the house in awe at what he saw. He expected to see a poor, almost dilapidated house. But instead he saw an average two floored house in almost perfect condition, with a perfect flower garden in the backyard.

Aeris: Um, are u gonna stand there all day or are you gonna come in?

Rufus: o sorry, I have a tendency to space out.

Aeris: ok…

Aeris walks into her house and yells, "MOM I'M HOME AND I HAVE SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS TRAINING TO BECOME A FIT ADVENTURER!" As soon as she said that a middle aged lady with red hair walks down the steps.

Aeris's Mother: Hello. My name is Ilfana. Are you supposed to be my new pupil?

Rufus: Yes! It is an honor to be accepted as your student.

Ilfana: You do know that this training isn't going to be easy.

Rufus: I'm sure I can handle it.

Ilfana: Is that so? Confident in you skills? Well we'll see if your actions can back up your confidence.

Right as she says this, a trap door opens up and Rufus finds himself falling onto a treadmill and actually landed on his feet.

Ilfana: This test will build up endurance and running abilities.

The treadmill slowly starts up. Rufus thoughts'This isn't too hard'end thoughts Right after he thought that, the treadmill speeds up to an insane speed and he finds himself falling backwards. Before he can completely fall off he gets the shock of his life when he falls into an electrical fence. On feeling the shock he speeds up running speed until he finds himself running on par with the machine. However, after about 5 minutes of running at this speed he found himself tiring out and falling back onto the electrical fence which prompts him to run faster. After about 2 hours of this he found himself lying down on the floor with steam rising from his body from getting shocked too much times.

Ilfana: There that is the end of Part one. Now, on to Part 2.

Rufus: umm, can't we take a break?

Ilfana: Surely u jest. You will never have time to rest in the middle of a tense situation.

Rufus: This isn't training, its torture.

Ilfana: Now, Part 2 will build you physical strength. Now Push ups!

Ten hours later, and a 50 whippings later for improper performing his task, they finally reach the final test.

Ilfana: Now for the Final Exam.

Rufus tiredly responds, "Finally…"

Ilfana: Now, do you have any special combat skills?

Rufus: Yes, I am a very good marksman

Ilfana: When you say good, do u mean as "good" as you were physically?

Rufus: No way, My Marksmanship puts my physical abilities to shame.

Ilfana mumbles to herself, "Well, that isn't too hard to do."

Rufus: I'll show you how good I am with a Gun, just give me a target.

Ilfana: Ok, Hit that plate on the other side of the room.

Rufus: WHAT? But this room has to be about more than 3 miles long!

Ilfana: Well that shouldn't be too difficult for an "ace" Shooter.

Rufus proceeds to pull out his Gun, aims for the target and shoots…and misses.

Ilfana: Some Ace shot.

Ilfana pulls out her whip again and lashes Rufus across his back and he screams out in pain.

Ilfana: This will be your punishment every time you miss.

Rufus: That isn't very fair

Ilfana: Well, look at it this way, as an adventurer when you come up against an enemy your accuracy must be top notch or else you might not have a chance to make a second chance.

Rufus: But I'll be able to make two shots from 5 miles away.

Ilfana: Not necessarily. Some enemies have the ability to teleport or can move at inhuman speeds and 5 miles are nothing.

Rufus just stands there blankly at the wealth knowledge this one person can know. Until he was snapped out of his shock by Ilfana announcing, "HURRY UP AND TAKE THE SHOT! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!

Rufus: Ok Ok, u don't have to yell.

And Rufus's shooting lessons proceeded for 1.5 hours until he was able to accurately and quickly shoot the target.

Ilfana: Your Training has finally ended and you are now fit for adventuring.

Rufus: At last this torture is finished. thoughts I think I should have stayed in the palace, I must be cra- end thoughts as he faints from over exertion

Ilfana: …It wasn't that hard was it?

Ten hours later Rufus finds himself lying down in a comfortable bed with all his wounds healed. Rufus thoughts This isn't too bad. I could get used to living like this. End Thoughts

Aeris walks up the steps and enters the room Rufus is in.

Aeris: YOUR UP!

Rufus: Are you the one who healed my wounds?

Aeris: Yep! I am specialized in magic.

Rufus: Thank You very much.

Aeris: No Problem. My mom says that I should travel with you on your journeys being I am so good at healing, and it is essential that all Parties require a healer.

Rufus: Wow, that's great, but are you sure that you can handle the labours of adventuring?

Aeris: OF COURSE! After all if you can…anybody should be able to.

Rufus: …I feel so much better about my fitness condition.

Aeris: Anyways, we might as well start out on our adventure tomorrow.

And with that said Aeris happily bounced down her steps to get ready for the great adventure that was about to commence.

Rufus's Thoughts 'Wow I totally lucked out. I get to travel the world with someone as beautiful as her. I am glad that I left the palace now. Nothing this good ever happened. End Thoughts And with those thoughts Rufus dozed off quietly into a blissful sleep with even more blissful dreams about a certain Flower Girl.

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End of Chapter 2. Plz. R&R I need to know if it is good, or what needs to be improved. And anyone who did review Thank You.


	3. Chapter3:Tripping over the starting line

The sun shines brightly through the window of the wooden house arousing the young prince from his sleep. He slowly sits up in his bed wishing he could have stayed in his peaceful state of rest. He hatefully looks out the window at the sun for disturbing him. His attention turns to the stairs as Aeris reaches the top. Aeris walks to him and asks, "You're finally up. I thought that you might have died in your sleep being you were sleeping for so long." Rufus yawns tiredly and replies, "What time is it?" Aeris responds. "Almost noon day."

Rufus: …that early? mumbles damn sun, I could've still been sleeping

Aeris giggles, "I can tell that you aren't much of a morning person."

Rufus responds groggily, "Being I'm not such a morning person does that mean I can go back sleep?"

Aeris puts on the sternest face she can muster and responds, "As an adventurer you must be able to get up at earlier times in order to get as much adventuring as possible done in one day."

Rufus: …But a person can't operate properly with a weary mind.

Aeris: That's a good comeback…but as an adventure you must learn to operate in any physical or mental condition.

Rufus sits in his bed thinking for a possible comeback to the statement, but after a while and decided to give up the argument by saying, "Ok, Ok, I get the point, u win.

Aeris's face relaxes back to her usual smile and says, "That nice. Oh yeah, mom says that we should leave soon before she kicks us out."

Rufus replies shocked, "Kicks us out? But what about food?"

Aeris: She says you missed it because you slept in. An adventurer must be punctual before all meals or else the food might go cold/bad or the group members might eat all the food.

Rufus thinks to himself, 'This adventuring stuff is starting to become a real headache.'

Rufus slowly gets out of his bed still half tired and walks over to the nightstand and puts his gun in its holster. He then notices a rucksack that looks like it was about to literally burst at the seams resting by Aries's foot. He asks Aeris, "Um, are we supposed to take that bag along with us?"

Aeris: Of course, that has all the supplies we will need."

Rufus: And who exactly is carrying that massive heap?

Aeris: You of course. Duh! That's the gentlemanly to due. You weren't honestly thinking of having a delicate flower such as myself carrying it were you?

Rufus: Of course not. mumbles under breath Servants are better suited for the job.

Aeris: Pardon Me, Did you say something?

Rufus: No, nothing at all.

Rufus walks over to the bag and attempts to pick it up. To his surprise the bag was relatively light and he almost wound up throwing it up into the roof. When he regained his balance he looked over and found Aeris practically laughing herself to tears. Rufus, humored by this joke that he fall hook, line and sinker for he had no choice but to succumb to laughter. After their laughing fit was over Rufus had to say, "You got me good. Now how did you do it?"

Aeris responded in good humor, "A good prankster never reveals their secreets."

Rufus: Come on.

Aeris: I might tell u….one day, later.

Rufus sighs, "I guess that's as close to a yes as I'm going to get."

Right than they here a loud repetitive thudding sound coming up the steps as Ilfana arrives at the top of the steps looking panicked. Aeris looks worriedly at her mother and asks her, "What's wrong?" Ilfana turns sharply to Rufus and asks, "Are you the prince?"

Rufus looks at her shocked, "Of course not."

Ilfana's voice becomes sterner, "If you're not the prince, then how come there are 2 men claiming to be Soldiers, and only the prince could be as physically unfit as you were."

Rufus: …ok, I am the prince.

Aeris looks at him in shock, "So you lied to me?"

Rufus: Umm, I wouldn't call it lying, just excluding unnecessary details

Aeris looks at him angrier, "Deceit, lying, exclusion, it's all the same."

Ilfana then interjects, "Now is not the time for bickering." She turns to look at Rufus, "I don't know why exactly you left, but apparently you must have had an epiphany and want to go on some adventure, so I guess I'll help you escape."

Rufus responds happily, "Really? That's so kind!"

Ilfana: no time for talking, you must escape. Now you must listen to me carefully and follow my instructions. You must go into the next and u will find a ladder lying against the wall. Climb the ladder and you should find a handle. Pull on the handle and a hidden door should open up. Now you will be up in the roof. Look around and you should find a hole that leads outside. Walk on the rafters to that hole and climb on the roof. Walk to the edge of the roof and you will find a slide. Slide down the slide and keep on running in the direction the slide is facing. If you keep on running in that direction you will reach the city limits of Midgar. After you have left Midgar, keep running in that same direction and you will reach another city named Kalm, where you should be able to rest.

Rufus replies in shock, "You want me to go through the roof? It's probably all dusty and musky"

Ilfana responds angrily, "You are going to go through with this plan if you want to escape, even if I have to kick you up there myself!"

Rufus reluctantly agrees knowing that he will never be able to win the debate. So he starts to head to the next room. Aeris looks worriedly looks at her mother and asks, "What about you?"

Ilfana responds, "Don't worry about me. Nothing's gonna happen, once the soldiers see that the prince isn't here they just leave and go on. Now go."

Aeris sighs in relief, "Ok, if you say so." Aeris walks to the room where Rufus is waiting and they both proceed with the escape plan.

Ilfana walks down to the door where the two soldiers were waiting impatiently. She opens the door and speaks to the soldiers calmly, "The prince is not present in my house."

Soldier 1: Is that so? Then why did you take so long?

Ilfana: I had to make sure that he wasn't present in my house

The soldier looks at his partner, "Do you think we should believe her Cloud?"

Cloud looks at his partner, "Don't know Sephiroth, I think smell a rat."

They both look at Ilfana, "Maybe we should check her house."

Ilfana responds, "No you will not. For you don't have an official warrant to search my house."

Both of them smirk, "Then if you wouldn't move willingly to let us in I guess we will have to use force."

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End of Chapter 3. What will happen to Ilfana. And will Aeris and Rufus successfully escape Midgar. Plz R&R


	4. Chapter 4

I'm back in the writing mood again after what seemed like an eternity of writers block. I just noticed that people actually bothered to put this fic on their alert list so I can't keep my fans waiting forever. Enjoy. R&R plz.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the other ones. They are property of Square Enix.

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Cloud unsheathes his giant butcher's knife… I mean sword and Sephiroth unsheathes his long katana as well. "This is your last chance to move or else you will have to pay for your insolence!!!" yelled Cloud. Ilfana takes a battle stance readying for their attack. Sephiroth was the first to swing katana swiftly at Ilfana only to get it blocked by a magical barrier. Ilfana steps away from the doorway, "Looks like you can't get in anyways." Ilfana steps back away from the barrier and starts chanting for a spell. However, right before she finished casting a blast ripped through the front wall at her. She swiftly sidestepped it but her casting was interrupted and she barely had time to put up a reflect barrier when the beam split and came back after her. Cloud and Sephiroth step through the rubble into the house, "Cloud, go check upstairs while I deal with this pest." Cloud nods and runs for the stairs. "NNNOOO!!!" yells Ilfana as she fires off a Fireball at Cloud only to get it deflected by Sephiroth. "Worried about something?" Sephiroth asked. Ilfana smirks, "Of course not."

Cloud reaches the top of the steps and starts and looks around like a predator turning around beds and other pieces of furniture. He was about to give up when he noticed a handle dangling from the roof. 'Now that isn't something that you normally see on a roof.' Cloud thought to himself. He then saw the ladder and climbed to pulls down on the handle to the secret stairs. 'Bingo!' Cloud climbs up into the roof and looks around and swiftly finds the hole. He runs along the rafters and climbs up through the hole. He looks down at the slide and sees footsteps leading away from the slide. He grins and pulls out his radio, "Calling all soldiers, the prince is heading to the northwestern exit of Midgar. If he resists you are authorized to attack him until he surrenders. Also, in the worst case scenario you have permission to deploy Motor ball."

A crackled voice replies over the radio, "Roger sir!"

'I wonder if Sephiroth requires any assistance' thinks Cloud. Right at that moment he looks down to the Ilfana being sent flying through a wall. 'I guess that answers that question.' Cloud slides down the slide and jumps in front of the bloody, but still conscious, form of Ilfana, "What should we do with her Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth walks through the hole in the wall and responds, "She's a Cetra, we should take her back to Professor Hojo. He seems to have an interest in them. What about the missing prince?"

Cloud looks up, "I sent a group of Soldiers to retrieve him, they should be able to handle it."

Sephiroth responds, "Good, now let's take this woman back to the Nutty Professor, who knows, he might give us a special reward."

Elsewhere…

Rufus and Aeries were almost to the outskirts of Midgar when they heard the low rumbling of bikes coming from behind them. Rufus looks over his shoulder, "That can't be good."

As he said that 9 motor biking Soldiers heading towards them came into view. "SHIT!!!" yelled Aeries "What are we going now???"

Rufus stops running, "Well it's obvious that we can't outrun them so we have to fight them off." Rufus pulls out his gun and fires off at the attackers. Much to his dismay the bullets bounced off of them as they were wearing bullet proof armor. Rufus replied shocked, "No Way!!! Ah, well round change."

Rufus quickly changes his regular bullets to enchanted bullets. "Round 2!!!" Somewhere off of the battlegrounds an imaginary bell sounds off 'DING! DING!' and Rufus's gun shoots off a fireball. Right before the fireball was about to slam into the leader he pressed a button and a reflective barrier is put up. "SHIT!!!" yelled Rufus as he found himself evading his own attack. "THAT IT!!!" yelled Rufus pantpant 'My throats gonna be sore from all this yelling, note to self discuss having less yelling parts in this story with the author or request health insurance.' Rufus changed his gun to a shotgun with flame insignia's on it and the words 'BOOM' written on the side. Rufus waits till the bikes come into range and fires off his gun. Rufus turns around to Aeries, "Now run!!!" Rufus tells Aeries as they start to run away again. The pellets from the shotgun make contact with their target, but instead of bouncing off, they stay stock to the Soldiers. They pay little to these pellets, but if they were to listen carefully, very carefully, they would hear a little countdown. 3…2…1… … … … BOOM!!!!! The first bike blew up and the fire caught 7 other bikes causing them to blow up as well. Unfortunately for our heroes that was only 8 out of 9 bikes. The 9th Soldier stopped his bike and pulls out his Radio, "Deploy Motor ball, the target is more resourceful then expected."

Our heroes were practically outside of Midgar when they heard a low rumbling noise like a giant tank. When they turned around, what they saw devastated them. They saw this giant piece of machinery that was the bottom of the tank, but who new what was above that. It was a mixture of a flame throwing body with blades as hands. But, whatever it was, IT was heading towards them at a dangerously high speed and it appeared to not have any intention of slowing down. Rufus grabs Aeries and barely managed to roll both of them out of the way of the Battering Ram. Motor ball unfolds out of his tank form into his battle mode, "Target Sighted" boomed the robotic voice, "Operation Parameters: Eliminate said Target"

"Eliminate???" inquired Rufus "This is gotten out of hand for just running away. AND HOW THE HELL WE SUPPOSED TO GET CROSS THAT THING????"

Aeries pulls out her rod, "Who knows but, its got to have weakness, being it's a robot I'm guessing it might be electricity" Aeries says as she casts a lightning spell. When the spell makes contact however the robot responds, "Battery charged to 100."

Both Aeries and Rufus sweatdropped at this, "You've got to be kidding me… well lets see how you like this!!!" Rufus fires off a barrage of Fireballs and somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind he believes he here's the Mario Bros. theme playing. Motor Ball turns his flame throwers into vacuums as he sucks in the fireball. After it finishes the vacuuming job it start to charge up its Flame Throwers as if the were cannons. Rufus and Aeris were thinking of simply getting out of the way but they quickly noticed that during the battle they had become cornered. "Don't you have anymore of them explosive bullets left???"

Rufus responds, "Well you see since they were still in the testing phase I didn't bother to get anymore made and I never thought that I would actually have to use them." Aeris mumbles something along the lines of always being prepared.

With all of their attacks ineffective all they could do was prepare for the attack to come and heal up afterwards and try to run.

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What will happen to our heroes? Will they really get blasted away by Motor Ball? Keep your eye out for the next chapter.


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